Flexible flat cables are used to an increasing degree in automobile manufacture as a replacement for ordinary cable harnesses consisting of round conductors. Various advantages are gained during use of the flexible flat cable harnesses in contrast to round cable harnesses. By using rectangular conductors, greater amounts of current can be transferred in comparison with round conductors. Therefore, rectangular conductors may be smaller, without comprising performance. The result is a reduction in weight and space allocation for flexible flat cables.
Moreover, individual cable seals consisting of ribbed cables are commonly utilized as an acceptable method for sealing individual cables in wet areas of the automotive electrical distribution system (EDS). Typically, each cable is isolated and sealed to the round wire insulation by a seal crimp at the electrical interface terminal and then collectively received into an electrical connector. Sealing each individual cable is conventionally done through an automated process.
However, despite the advantages of flexible flat cables, they do not lend themselves to being sealed individually using the automated process referenced above. Currently, in order to individually seal flexible flat cables, each cable must be sealed using an adhesive or a sealant during a secondary process. Such methods may be cumbersome and may add material and labor cost to the manufacturing process.